ALBANY — Access to high-speed internet is anything but in rural sections of Chautauqua County.

That’s set to change, however, through a multi-million-dollar investment benefiting various towns and households in the county.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the second disbursement of funds through the NY Broadband Program, a state initiative that’s geared to cover all of New York with broadband by 2018.

The towns of Chautauqua, Ripley, Arkwright, Sherman, Westfield and Mina will gain access to high-speed broadband through the second round of grant funding, which was approved by state legislators in last year’s budget. Companies that secured grants to install high-speed broadband are DFT Local Service Corp., Fairpoint, Frontier Communications and Armstrong Telecommunications.

The second round of investments from the state and telecommunications companies total $9.6 million. A total of 1,385 households within the towns will receive high-speed broadband for the first time as a result.

“Broadband is today what electricity was nearly a century ago — essential to creating economic opportunity, driving innovation and an absolute necessity for our way of life,” Cuomo said. “These awards will provide homes and businesses with access to the high-speed internet required to participate and succeed in the modern economy, and a major step toward broadband for all in New York.”

Areas in the north county, including Pomfret, Sheridan, Stockton and a section of the city of Dunkirk by the lake will also gain access to high-speed internet through investments by the state and DFT Communications.

DFT Communications was awarded $4.2 million under the New NY Broadband Grant Program. The $5.3 million overall project, which includes DFT’s $1 million private investment, will bring fiber optic broadband services with up to 1 gigabit per second in speed to over 2,000 households.

DFT expects to finalize permits and necessary grant agreements by mid-2017. Construction of the network will begin in late 2017 and be completed by the end of 2018. At that point, company personnel will be reaching out to the homes and businesses in the effected areas to provide updated information.

Mark Maytum, president and COO of DFT Communications, said he thanks the governor and the New York State Broadband Program Office for their assistance in bringing the broadbrand grant program to reality.

“We are ecstatic to receive this grant to help further deploy fiber broadband services to the rural areas we serve. The people living and working in these areas deserve the same level of service as those living in urban and suburban areas of the state,” Maytum said. “This is an exciting opportunity for our company and the people in this region, and we are very appreciative of the efforts from the Broadband Program Office, our state legislators, and Cuomo’s office in making this happen.”

State Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean, expressed her pleasure over the announcement and echoed the governor’s words regarding its relevance to the economy.

“Broadband is a fundamental part of efforts to promote job creation and enhance quality of life for those in rural areas such as ours,” she said. “Residents and businesses in rural communities have the least access to broadband, and the New NY Broadband Program, which we supported with $500 million in last year’s budget, is making capital investments to underserved areas that need technology improvements the most.”

The broadband program is finalizing a request for proposals for round three, which is set to begin next month. The third and final round of grant funding will seek to complete the program’s goal to bring high-speed internet access to New York’s remaining unserved and underserved communities.

Round three will be complemented by $170 million in Connect America Funds, a federal investment that was recently allocated to the state from the Federal Communications Commission.